


In the Now

by HeroSavesPeople



Category: The Flash (TV 2014), westallen
Genre: F/M, Love, Romance, WA AU, Westallen AU, a smidge of steam but definitely not M-worthy, mutual pining and oblivious as hell, teen westallen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-08 08:04:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15926297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeroSavesPeople/pseuds/HeroSavesPeople
Summary: Iris attends a party after returning home for the summer to escape her despondent mood when the boy who seemed to always be a shadow in her thoughts catches her attention.  Post-freshman year of college.





	In the Now

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be posted after a dark fic to soften the blow but I decided to forgo the darker fic for now. This may be the last fic I put up for a while so I wanted it to be a light one. Hope it's not too cheesy. :P

Weaving through the crowd, Iris can feel the heat of the night on her skin.  She opted to wear a floral off-the-shoulder dress to the beach party, but was having regrets about the choice of fabric.  If she was being honest with herself, she didn’t even know why she had put any care at all into what she was wearing.

Maybe it was because the stress of finals had made her feel like a hag or hearing her high school crush was moving out of town put her in a despondent mood and she was trying to compensate for it.  Although, she wasn’t sure why that would make her smart after all these years. Hell, she had just gotten out of a relationship and said good riddance to dating, seeking the peace of solitude, but hearing that Barry Allen would no longer be around made her feel strange for some reason. 

Barry was always a calm presence despite his tendency to fumble over his own feet and stammer through complicated chemistry problems.  There was something undeniably pure about him, with his sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks. The fact that he always seemed eager to escape her presence was only a small hit compared to the way he always went out of his way to help people despite his shy demeanor.  

It had been a long time since she even thought of him that way.  The day she walked into chemistry lab to find that Barry was no longer partnered up with her, she had shoved him out of her mind.  Clearly he wanted nothing to do with her—maybe the fact that he had dropped a vial of potassium permanganate and glycerol had confirmed they were not compatible with one another for him—and Iris had confidently decided that she was going to dismiss him from her thoughts just as he had dismissed her.

It was because she had done a good job of doing just that, she was confounded as to why the thought of no longer seeing him made her feel a twinge of sadness.  And on top of the news that he would be leaving town, Iris had to worry about competing with ruthless journalism students for an internship at CCPN over the summer.  She had passed the first round of interviews and was anxiously waiting to hear back after the second one.

Either way, she hadn’t exactly been in the most spirited mood and decided that maybe meeting up with Linda at a pseudo high school reunion party would be the change of scenery she needed.  Being around people was possibly the last thing she wanted right then, but it was her first night back from school for the summer and she could use the distraction.

So here she was, meandering between people and politely smiling at the stray peers that called out to her.  She stops to catch up with a few people before pulling away when she receives a message from Linda, apologizing for having to cancel.

She begins to sway with the music as she types out a response, the opening beats of her favorite summer song coming on.  She had anticipated Linda having to cancel when she heard her grandmother was visiting, so it was with little disappointment she made plans to see her the following day.  She can't help the smile that spreads across her lips as she closes her eyes and lets the music fill her up.

Already lost in the crowd, she moves to the music and lets the worries wash away if only for a moment.  She sways to and fro and even when the song ends, she dances through another. She was on her third song when she glances behind her and a pair of dark green eyes catch her attention in between moving bodies.

She falters in her movements, wondering if she had seen who she thought she had.  The dancing bodies in front of her obscure her view so she pays no mind and lets the music consume her once more, feeling the beats in her pulse.

But now her mind is no longer free of thoughts but is haunted by green eyes staring at her with heat in his gaze.  Penetrating eyes that she could never forget. But parties were never his scene so she wonders if she had really seen him or perhaps her thoughts had conjured him up.

As she slowly turns to the music she looks back over to where she thought she had seen him and there he was again.  This time the bodies in front of her danced just out of range that she could get a look at him and sure enough, Barry Allen was staring right at her, his gaze unwavering.

Her heart flips in her chest and her stomach flutters at the look in his eyes.  There was something about the way he was looking at her that made her pulse thrum in her veins.  His eyes were dark and enduring underneath the hood of thick lashes. The shadows casted by the bonfire enhanced those lashes that she always envied.

She had thought she was over her crush on him, having moved on a long time ago, but as she watched him watch her, Iris could feel that deep down, it didn't seem to have left at all.  Because sure enough, there was that familiar rumble in her stomach, the hitch in her chest as he stole her breath.   

She looks back at him for a moment before smiling at him tentatively, not knowing what else to do.  But when he doesn't return her smile and instead simply lets his eyes flicker to her lips, she sighs dejectedly, remembering that no, Barry Allen did not like her and that no, he definitely wasn't looking at her in any type of way that would indicate interest.

She looks away with a heavy heart but a renewed energy to forget about him.  She did a good job of it the last few years, she'd continue for the next several.

She wanted to let the music fill her up and get lost in it again, but try as she might, it was no longer having the effect she was looking for when she could still feel his burning eyes on her.

No, no, no…she would forget about Barry Allen if it was the last thing she does.

Distracted by her internal ramblings, Iris is startled to feel a pair of large hands softly brush against her waists.  She lets out a gasp and spins around, her elbow ready to strike. She knew most everyone at the party and while she knew she didn't have to worry about them, she could never be too sure.

But her heart stops briefly in her chest and her breath catches in her throat when she sees just who was wrapping his hands around her.  It was him. The boy who haunted her thoughts. (Boy? Man? Did nineteen make a man?) Either way, it didn't matter because he was standing there with his hot hands on her, standing too close to be considered platonic as his eyes rove over her face, looking as though he was marveling at her.

"Hi," she breathes as confusion swirled in her.  Intrigue, certainly, but confusion as he never made an attempt to speak to her in the past much less touch her.   

"Hi," he says just as quietly.

For a long moment neither say anything.  She could feel his heart thumping against her, they were standing so close, the heat from his body permeating into her as they stare at one another.  She could feel the tension in the air, but it was not at all the kind of tension she was expecting. In the brief moments she'd allow herself to wonder about him, she'd imagine him to run the other way as he always did when he was near her.

But here he was, standing in front of her after a year.  The last time she had seen him was at their high school graduation almost a year ago.  He hadn't changed much except it appeared he was donning a five o'clock shadow which she had never seen on him.

He says nothing more as he steps closer to her, pulling her flush against his front as his arms wraps around her.  He never looks away from her eyes as though gauging whether this was ok with her. Yes, yes it was ok with her. All those notions of forgetting about him banished the moment he stepped into her orbit for possibly the first time ever.   

But still, confusion flickers across her as she wonders just what he was doing.  What had prompted him to approach her after years of avoiding her. After all, he had avoided her for much of high school so what exactly inspired him to come into her presence and fill her with confusion and that feeling that she had buried deep down all those years ago.  That affection, that love.

There was that tell-tale warmth that only Barry could bring out inside her, but as she feels his hot hands rove across her body, exploring it like new terrain, there was something else that accompanied the love.  There was another kind of warmth that made itself present.

She wants to say something, anything, but the words catch in her throat as she gets lost in his piercing gaze.  Those deep green eyes that were so light and resembled the sea were dark now in the shadow of the night as he drank her in.  He was looking at her as though he had never seen her, as though she was an oasis and the only salvation he would find in the middle of a desiccate wasteland.

Had she ever seen that look on his face before?  She didn't think so, but for the moment she didn't allow herself to ponder it any longer.  

Her arms shyly comes around his shoulders, holding onto him more securely as his grip tightens around her.  He secures his grip on her and sway to the music. His eyes doesn’t look away from her and instead travels across her face, glancing at her throat when she swallows nervously.

She doesn’t know how long they remained that way before he inches his face closer and she feels the heat of his breath against her skin as she lets her eyes fall shut.  Through the pumping beats of the music, fighting to escape the confines of the speakers she can hear her own heart thumping as his lips brush against her cheek. She can hear his shaky breath close to her ear.

But before she can get lost in this—whatever this even was—she has to know.

“Tell me something.”

“Anything,” he murmurs, sliding his hands against her back.

“Why didn’t you like me in high school?”

His hands abruptly stop their movements and he freezes. There was a moment of silence in which both held their breaths before he finally pulls back to look at her.

She waits nervously and watches him.  The expression on his face stuns her as he looks at her with disbelief and confusion. His eyes flit between hers as though trying to gauge whether she was being honest.

“You thought I didn’t like you?” he asks skeptically.

“Well, Barry, I mean, you basically avoided me at all cost and when we were lab partners in chem you switched partners after dropping the vial, which by the way wasn’t my fault and—“

“Actually one might argue it was your fault.”

She rears her head back to look at him with narrowed eyes. “Oh yeah?  And exactly how would _one_ present this argument?  Especially when I didn’t even touch the thing.”

He looks down bashfully, his thumb stoking lightly against her back.  “But you did touch me…and I was so taken aback by your skin that I…lost my grip,” he finishes lamely.

She quirks her brows skeptically. “Really,” she deadpans.

His face splits into a shy smile but he keeps his eyes on her even as his fingers twitch nervously against her. “Iris,” he says like it should have been the most obvious thing in the world. “I was so in love with you that I couldn’t be around you without fumbling in some way and I could barely speak two words to you.”  

He ignores the way her breath hitches and the way her eyes widen slightly and carries on. In love with her?

“I was so embarrassed and knew that if I stayed your lab partner I’d never get anything done or...I’d blow the place up at some point.”

Iris was still reeling by this newfound revelation.  Never in her wildest dream did she ever consider that he may return her feelings, that he could possibly feel for her what she did for him.  She thought back to all those times that he ran from her and now realized he was running out of fear.

She opens her mouth to say something, but all that comes out is an astonished laugh as she looks up at him and meets his shy gaze.

"You're crazy," she huffs out, her hands coming up to slide against his shoulders.

He flexes his fingers, digging them into the fabric of her dress.  "I'm really sorry for the misunderstanding. I'm sorry I didn't make a move sooner…" he trails off softly.

She shakes her head, feeling her cheeks ache with her happy smile.  She felt like she could soar in that moment with the lightness in her chest.  She brings her face closer, nuzzling against him. She feels his lashes flutter with his closing eyes and inhales his scent.

"It's ok," she whispers.

She feels his hot breath brush against her cheek and without another moment of waiting, she tilts her head up and captures his lips.  She feels him grunt against her before pressing his lips harder into her, stealing her breath.

She wraps her arms tight around his shoulders, letting her body give into his hold as he pulls her against him.  They were wrapped so tightly around each other that she didn't know where she ended and he began. It was as though years of suppressed feelings were being unleashed as they both poured everything into the kiss.

He stumbles forward with her in his arms and they both let out a gasp as they bump into someone.  Barry keeps his firm grip on her, keeping her from falling over as they look over to the person. Iris recognizes him as a former classmate but it appears as though he barely felt them as he drunkenly carries on dancing, his fists pumping wildly into the air.

Iris looks back at Barry and lets out an embarrassed giggle.  "Um…"

"Um, do you want to go for a walk?  Get away from the crowd?" he asks her.

She takes in his rumpled state, his hair a mess from her hands, his cheeks flushed and the warmth in her chest glows a little brighter.  She nods softly and takes his hand.

He laces their fingers together pulls her away, weaving through the crowd and looking back to check on her every so often.  It was sweet the way he makes sure no one bumped into her roughly and Iris has to press a hand to her cheek to cover up the heat in them.    

They walk several yards away, their fingers still interlocked, until they're a safe distance from the crowd and approach the Snack Shack.  Barry glances at it with a curious look.

"What?"

"You remember that accident a few years ago?  The one that was in the local news about the explosion here?" he asks, nodding toward the Snack Shack.

“Yeah, I don’t think I'll ever forget that.  Biggest thing that happened around here."

"Yeah that was, um, that was me and Cisco."

She stops in her tracks and looks between the Snack Shack and him in astonishment.  "No way."

He swings their locked hands together as he rubs his neck bashfully.  "Yup. Not our best move, but we were trying out a new experiment and well, clearly we did not succeed."

She looks at him for a long moment before doubling over and bursting out into laughter.  "Oh my god, I can't believe this."

He laughs along with her before tugging on her hand to bring her closer.  He looks at her with a sweet affection that warms her.

"So you were quite the delinquent, huh?" she murmurs.

"I like to call it a curious mind."

"Ok, Barry the Unabomber."

"Hey!  Cisco was in on it too," he says defensively.

Iris hums as she beams up at him.  "Will you cease to surprise me tonight, Bartholomew?"

He shifts nervously between his feet before looking at her again.  "You can add B&E and vandal to that list too."

"Bartholomew Henry Allen!"

"Would you like to see?"

"Yes, please," she says in amusement, still in shock.

He looks around for a moment before leading her closer to the Snack Shack where a padlock was attached to the door.  He digs around his pocket for a moment before taking something out and letting go of her hand.

Iris watches in astonishment as he picks his way through the lock.  She hears the distinct click of the lock opening before he pulls it off and opens the door.

"Color me impressed."

He guides her inside and flips the light on before closing the door.  The light was dim, a few of the bulbs seemingly fused.

"Cisco and I had a phase," Barry says.  "We were watching Terminator: Judgement Day and I couldn't get over how Linda Hamilton just picked her way out of a psych ward.  She made it look so easy so we spent the whole summer trying until we got it down. Definitely wasn’t as easy as she made it look.”

She was still looking at him in awe as he leads her to the back corner of the Snack Shack where there was a prep table.

"What are we looking for?" she asks.

"This," he says, crouching down and pointing at something.

Iris crouches down beside him and maneuvers in the small space to look at what he was pointing at.  In really small letters were the words "Legends BA and CR."

"Cisco and I came back a few months after the accident when the guilt wore off a bit and put that there to commemorate the most rebellious thing we've ever done.  Not that that was our intention, but still. That's about as exciting as our lives got."

"That is so…cute," Iris says shaking her head.  "Sweet, innocent, Barry Allen and Cisco Ramon."

She turns to look at him and notices then just how close they were.  The shy smile fades from his lips as he swallows thickly and from her proximity, she can see his throat bob with the movement.

"You've got some fire in you, huh?" she whispers.

His eyes flicker from her lips, burning with desire.  "Some," he says hoarsely before moving in to kiss her.  Iris gasps into the kiss and as she pulls him close, she can't help but wonder if she was possibly asleep at that moment and dreaming this.

How had the night turned into this?  She had gone from moping and believing her childhood crush was just a distant memory to exchanging heated kisses with him.  Kisses that made her lose her mind and felt like they were taking her to another plane of existence.

She barely registers him pulling her up and sitting her atop the prep table, her skirt hiked and splayed across her thighs.  Too lost in his warmth and impassioned attentions, Iris can't bring herself to care that she was probably gripping him desperately.

She can hear her own heavy breathing mingling with his own as he  drags his lips down her throat. They slide against her bare shoulder before returning to the base of her throat.  One hands grips the back of her head securely, tilting her head gently to reach more of her skin as his fingers tangle in the wavy strands of her hair.

She's overwhelmed in his embrace, feeling him in every cell, his heat, his scent filling her senses and somehow in the midst of him hindering her ability to think clearly, she has to marvel that sweet, shy, Barry Allen could be so intoxicating, turning her into an absolute mess.  Who knew he had it in him?

"When did you get so forward?" she breathes, the heat of his hands scorching her skin through the fabric of her dress.  She was already hot from the heat, but god, he was like the sun, consuming her with his presence in the most heavenly way.

The hand on her bare thigh clenches as he slowly pulls his lips from behind her ear.  She feels his ragged breath against her cheek as he presses his forehead against her temple.  "Not that I'm complaining," she hurries to reassure breathlessly.

A soft puff of hair escapes his lips as he exhales.  "I'm glad," he says huskily.

He brings her impossibly closer to him, using the hand on her thigh to travel further up under her dress to grip her hip and tug her into him before pulling his hands out.  She wants to protest and keep his hands on her but the thought dies when he settles them around her waist and looks at her with dark eyes.

His pupils are blown, his cheeks flushed, but there's something else in his gaze.  Something akin to affection and adoration but also…determination. She cocks her head to the side, her hair brushing across his face at the gesture.

He gently strokes her hair with a soft smile and pushes it from her face.  He looks at her as though she was a marvel and Iris finds that she was having to remind herself to breath every so often.

When he finally speaks, she has to concentrate on his words.  "I'm tired of living in fear," he says softly, his eyes roving over her face.  "Ever since the accident, I thought I saw my life flash before my eyes and it was just filled with regret."

Iris pulls back to look at him with wide eyes.  " _What_?  You were in an accident?  Are you ok?" she worries uselessly, fussing over him.  She grips either side of his neck as though searching for injuries.

He rubs her forearms soothingly.  "Hey, it's ok. I'm fine. If it was really bad then you'd have known by now."

She still looks at him in concern, her hand sliding down to press against his chest.  She could feel the heavy thumps of his hearts as he inhales sharply, his chest rising up to give into her touch.

"It's still beating," he says coarsely, bring a hand up to cover hers.  "But I was reminded that my biggest and possibly my one regret was you. Not getting you in my life and instead running away in fear."

She lets out a soft sound of astonishment, words escaping her.  "Barry."

She looks into his dark green eyes that bore into her with an intensity she had never seen before.  His cheeks were flushed and there was a determined blaze accompanied by his the affection that she could now see clear as day.  That love, that devotion she had missed in his gaze all those years was unmistakable now.

She slowly curls her fingers into his shirt and tugs on it until their lips touch once more.  But as he leans into her, she remembers something just then.

"How is this going to work?  What are we going to do after tonight?” she asks. “You’re leaving town.”

“I’m not,” he murmurs, stoking the hollow of her throat with his thumb. She has to fight the urge to tilt her head back and bask in his touch. She keeps her eyes open and forces herself to pay attention to what he was saying when the words finally register.

“Wait, you’re not leaving?”

"No."  He shakes his head.  "I was trying to run away from myself, past mistakes and regrets and then I had an epiphany moment.  I didn't have to run to be someone else. I had to just face everything head on. And so that's why I'm here.  Cisco heard from Caitlin who heard from Linda that you'd be here. And I thought: here's my chance. To try with you so that I can say I tried at least."

"What were you running from?"

He looks away, his brows knitting.  "I had heard that you were seeing someone and that it might be serious and then I just…" he shrugs.  "I don't know, I just started thinking all kinds of things, my mind was running rampant and I had this horrible sinking feeling with the realization that neither one of us were in high school anymore.  That there wasn't that common ground that tied us together anymore and there was nothing stopping you from being gone forever. Gone from me."

He ducks his head bashfully, his ears turning red.  "Can't say that I had a game plan in mind or what the hell I was doing.  But god, I'm so- I'm beyond happy that I'm here with you.”

"I am too.  Let's not waste any more time," she says, looking up at him softly.  “And I’m not seeing him anymore if that wasn’t already obvious.”

She takes a minute to look at his downcast face in wonder.  All this time, all this time he had been in love with her and she thought he hated her.  Well, maybe not hate because Barry was too sweet to really hate anyone, but still…never would she have ever imagined that the boy she had a crush on for two years had been harboring deep feelings for her for much longer than she could have imagined.

She strokes his hair gently, coaxing him to look at her and smiles softly when he finally does.  He looks at her shyly from under his thick lashes and her heart clenches in her chest at the sight.

"You're an idiot," she whispers.

"I know," he says with a nod, leaning into her touch.

"But so am I.  I should have said something."

"Well, in fairness, I made it hard for you.  God, I'm such an asshole." He furrows his brows in frustration at himself.  "I'm so sorry, Iris."

"Hey, enough beating yourself up about it.  You're here now."

He nods, looking at her seriously.  "I'm here now."

"I had a pretty big thing for you too, you know?” 

He looks at her in surprise as though he didn’t believe her. She nods. “Barry, you're honestly the sweetest guy of anyone I've ever known.  I’ve never met anyone that cares about people the way you do. The way you stood up to Flash when he was picking on Peter...and when you left flowers by my locker when my mom died.”

His eyes widen slightly.  “You knew that was me?”

“I tried to thank you, but you ran off so I figured it was meant to be a silent gesture.”  She softly brushes her fingers across his cheek. “It was effortless falling for you."

She watches as his cheeks turn rosy, traveling all the way up to the tips of his ear as he looks at her in wonder.  "I feel like I might be dreaming."

She reaches out to pinch his arm.  He lets out a yelp and jerks against her.  "Nope, not dreaming," she says, before tickling him.  He squirms around as he laughs. He retaliates and soon they’re both leaning against each other, breathless from laughter. 

He muzzles against her shoulder for a moment, the soft strands of his hair brushing pleasantly against her skin as he presses soft kisses along her shoulder.  “You’re right. Dreaming or not, let’s not waste any more time. Because we have the rest of forever.”

“To the rest of forever.”

They spend the night in each other's arms and in the morning, when she wakes up, she knows it’s not a dream.  That this was real and perhaps the start of something beautiful. And to make it all the better, he’s there with her when she checks her email and learns that the internship was hers.  As Barry hugs her in congratulations, Iris feels hope in her chest.

 

It was a time for new beginnings.

**Author's Note:**

> Yah, Barry was a man on a mission. That’s what a near-death experience will do to a fella. Hope you guys enjoy this! As always, thank you so much for the continued support ♥ 
> 
> Oh yeah and I crossed Marvel into this a bit.


End file.
